Quickly disconnectible contact plug assembly



May 4, 1954 J. w. ANDERSON ET AL 2,677,811 QUICKLY DISCONNECTIBLE CONTACT PLUG ASSEMBLY Filed April 22, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS 73 2 John W.fl72d7:.5'02l 4 BY Jean W. Hamilton JITTORNE' Y y 4, 1954 J. w. ANDERSON ET AL QUICKLY DISCONNECTIBLE CONTACT PLUG ASSEMBLY 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 22.

nson it Uflwizu'lion Jea Patented May 4, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE QUICKLYDISCONNECTIBLE CONTACT PLUG ASSEMBLY John W. Anderson, Westfield, and Jean W. Hamilton, Montclair, N. J assignors to Airtron, Inc., Linden, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application April 22, 1952, Serial No. 283,658 Claims. (01. 339-91) 1 2 This invention relates to inter-connectible Fig. 7 is a fragmentary transverse sectional plugs by which plural wires in one cable can be view on the line 7-1 of Fig. 3. readily connected with mating wires in another The disclosed contact plug assembly, as bestcable and more particularly relates to means by seen in Figs. 1-3 inclusive, comprises two mating which such plugs may be connected and dis- 5 connection plugs A and B. Plug A comprises a connected merely by being forcefully brought female connector, subordinate or sub-assembly together axially or forcefully separated axially, I'ii clamped in place within a metal shell 12 :by the force required for such separation being sufa nut is which, with an intervening lock washer ficient to avoid unintentional separation. I6, securely holds the said assembly in place Accordingly, an important object of this inn against an internal annular flange I8 of ,said vention is the provision of a simple connection shell. plug assembly in which mating plugs may be con- The sub-assembly I0 comprises an internal, nected and disconnected merely by forceful axial generally cylindrical body 2-0 of relatively hard, movement of one of said plugs relatively to the molded dielectric material into which are fixed other. 15 a plurality of similar axially extending female Another important object is the provision of contacts 22 preferably formed ofsomewhatresilsuch a plug arrangement in which two plugs are lent, conductive metal. Each of these contacts releasably held together by yieldable means has a hollowed inner end 24 into which the which, however, will yield only to a relatively subpped end of a Wire 26 is soldered and a holstantial axial plug-separating force. lowed contact-pin-recei-ving outer end 28 which Another important object is the provision of is longitudinally slitted to render the latter end such a plug arrangement in which at least one slightly expans'ible to receive therewithin a conplug has means for preventing ingress of dirt, t p 39 f a ma Connection p l The water, etc. thereinto. resiliency of the metal of which the contact 22 is The foregoing and still other objects are acf rmed s ures a firm ra p of h pin 0 by complished by the present invention of which id nt ct to m n a i y fi i n l a preferred embodiment is shown for illustrative l C nnection therebetween. If desired the purposes in the accompanying drawing th t longitudinal slitting of the contact 22 may be such however, limiting the invention to that particular as o f m plur l ili nt con t fi r 32 embodiment. (Fig. 4) to connect with the pin 30.

In the drawings: The outer end 28 of the contact 22 is at least Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a pres ghtly larger in diameter than the latter s .inferred embodiment of a quickly disconnectible 1181 e d, s enlargement being d ed a ts plug assembly according to the present inveninner end by an annular shoulder 34. The said. tion; two mating parts of said assembly being 35 contact is disposed within an axial aperture in shown as separate the dielectric body 20., which aperture is inter- Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the plug as- Dally shouldered as at d v t p ure sembly according to Fig. 1, the parts thereof into a small diameter inner end 38 within which being 90 removed from their Fig. 1 positions, the inner end 24 of the contact fits quite accuthe lower part of this figure being in side eleva- 40 rately and a larger diameter outer end 48 into tion and the upper part being in axial section which the outer end 280i the contact is disposed substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1. with an annular clearance 42 preferably only Fig. 3 is a full axial sectional view of the parts sufiicient to enable the outer end 28 of the con shown in Fig. 2 substantially on the line 2-2 of tact to expand slightly upon receiving contact Fig. 1, said parts, however, being in their fully 45 pin 30. The shoulder 34 of the contact seats interconnected condition; and Fig. 3A is an against shoulder 36 thereby limiting the contact enlarged fragment of Fig. 3. 22 to leftward movement (as viewed in the draw- Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view on the lugs) and a snap ring 44 seats within an exline 44 of Fig. 3. ternal annular groove 46 in the contact .22 and Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the mating 50 abuts against the inner end face of the dielecparts of the assembly as viewed from the line tric body 20 to prevent any axial movement of 5-5 of Fig. 2. the contact within said body. As thus disposed,

Fig. 6 is a reduced scale view somewhat simthe outer end of the contact 22 preferably i ilar to Fig. 4except that expansible locking means flush with the outer end face of the di le tri are shown in their condition as when the two body. mating P rts are only partially interconnected. H The dielectric body 20 has a. relatively large diameter outer end 48 enclosed by an annular, metal subshell 50 which has a radial flange 52 at its inner end extending inwardly and overlying a shoulder 54 of the dielectric body 20. The free outer marginal portion 56 of the subshell is somewhat reduced in thickness and rolled or swaged in to hold a washer 58 in contact with a marginal portion of a relatively thick disc Bil which, preferably, is formed of soft gum-like, dielectric material such as might be quite easily pierced as hereinafter explained.

The inner end of the dielectric body is of reduced diameter and is threaded as at 62 to receive the nut l4. When the latter is tightened, the lock washer l6 abuts the left or inner face of the flange it while the outer surface of said flange is in abutting relationship with the sub-shells flange 52 to hold the sub-assembly l firmly within the shell l2. As best seen in Fig. '7, the shells inner flange I8 is formed with a tongue 64 which extends into an axial groove 66 formed in the threaded portion 52 of the dielectric body to prevent angular movement of the sub-assembly l0 relatively to the shell [2.

The shell I2 is formed with a complete, cylindrical flange 68 which surrounds the inner ends of contacts 22 and is spaced substantially from the latter. The inner edge of the flange 68 is flanged outwardly as at and a protective grommet 12 of soft rubber or other suitable material is shaped internally to conform to and extend about the inner end of the flange 63. The grommet also surrounds and protects the wires and extends tightly about a covering (not shown) which binds together and insulates said wires as. a single cable.

The outer end of the shell 12 is formed as an integral, partly cylindrical flange which is thus characterized because it is cut away at diametrically opposite points to give it the character of two opposite, axially extending tongues l4, 16 which, as viewed from their ends, appear as opposite arcuate flanges defining parts of a cylinder and defining between them opposite flangebreaches Ila, l'lb which are at least slightly different in size. The tongues 14, I6 are formed with co-planar circumferential grooves 15 within which is disposed a part-circular, wire, contractile spring 18, one end 89 of which is turned in and seats within a recess 82 in flange 14 to constrain it against bodily dislodgment from said grooves. The shell I2 is formed with an external mounting flange 84 with bolt holes 86 therein to permit the entire sub-assembly If) to be mounted upon a panel, junction box wall or the like.

A'male plug B designed to be connected to the female plug A may be a straight connector or an elbow connector as shown in the drawings. The plug B is very similar to plug A and, in the following description, the reference characters applied to similar parts of plug B are formed by adding at to the characters applied to corresponding parts of plug A. Plug B has a connector sub-assembly [096, secured within a shell I21: which has a cylindrical flange 68:0 and an inner annular flange I89: to which the assembly I010 is fastened. Plug B differs from plug A chiefly in. that the contacts are pins which, when the two plugs are interconnected, telescope into contacts 22 to effect connections therewith; and sub-assembly lilac does not have a part comparable to the soft rubber-like disc 60.

The shell I20: is given the character of an elbow or angle connection by having a collar 90, integral with flange 68m, defining a cable aperture 92, lined with a grommet 94 through which a cable 96 extends into the shell to enable wires 26:: to be connected to the inner ends of the contact pins 30. The outer end of flange 68:1: is closed by a removable disc or plate 98 held in place by a snap ring I00. The plate 98 may be temporarily removed to facilitate association of the cable 56 with the plug and to give access to the nut Mac to permit tightening of the sub-assembly Him in place in the shell.

The shell lZx at its outer end has a partly cylindrical flange in the form of two axially extending tongues 14m and 16:10 which, when the two plugs A and. B are interconnected as in Fig. 3, fit complementally between the tongues 14 and 1'6 of plug A to form, with the latter tongues, a complete cylindrical flange which is substantially encircled by the contractile spring 18. The tongues 14a: and 161: have external, circumferential grooves 1590 which, when the two plugs A and. B are in fully interconnected relation, are coplanar with grooves !5. Thus the contractile spring 18, seated in the grooves 15 and 15x, serves to hold the two plugs together against becoming accidentally disconnected.

As the tongues Mr and 159: are slightly different in size, corresponding to the different sizes of the breaches Tia and 117), it follows that the two plugs can be pushed axially together to interconnect them in only one angular relationship. This, together with the fact that the subassemblies it and I011: are held against rotation within their respective shells, assures that the two plugs can be connected only with the contact pins 30 in proper connection relationship with the contacts 22 with which they are intended to mate.

The tongues 14m and 13x are outwardly beveled at their free ends as at I02 to enable said tongues to function as wedges to expand the spring 18 slightly so that they may move axially into position between tongues 14 and 1'6. When they reach the latter position, the spring, by its inherent resiliency, drops into the grooves 15 and 75a: to lock the two plugs together. The depth of the grooves 15:10 and the contour of the walls thereof preferably are such as to enable the latter to exert a wedging effect to expand the spring 18 slightly to permit separation of the two plugs. The grooves 75, on the other hand, are relatively deep and their walls connect so abruptly with the outer surfaces of the tongues 74 and 18 that movement of the tongues 14:1: and 16m to and from fully connected positions does not cause the spring to become fully dislodged from said grooves. Ordinarily, it has been found satisfactory to so relate the dimensions and contours of the beveled surfaces {92 and grooves 15m and the size and strength of spring 18, that a force of not more than 20 lbs. sufficies to push the plugs into their connected relationship and a force of not less than 10 lbs. is required to pull them apart.

The disc 60, preferably, is imperforate when originally installed but the first interconnection of plugs A and B will cause the contact pins 30 to push through the said disc, thence, into the contacts 22. This affords an indication of the softness and penetrability considered to be desirable for the material of which the disc is formed. The disc, of course, may possess different characteristics if desired, in which event suitable perforations to receive the contact pins 36 may have to be formed therein before assembly of the disc in the device. If the stated preferred characteristics of the disc 60 are present,

the perforations therein are precisely positioned and substantially close upon withdrawal of the pins 30, thereby excluding dirt and dust from the contacts 22; also, the disc exerts a wiping or cleaning effect upon the contact pins 30 as the latter pass through the disc, thereby assuring a clean and efiicient electrical connection at the contacts.

It should be apparent that the improvements disclosed and described herein are such as to yield the hereinbefore stated objects; also that the inventive concept may be embodied in other structures without departing from the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What we claim is:

1. A connection plug assembly comprising a pair of axially associable plugs having rigid outer shells and axially interconnectible electrical contacts carried in said plugs, said shells comprising alternately interdisposable coaxial tongues of similar inside and outside diameters having circumferentially extending grooves which are in circumferential alignment when said contacts are interconnected, and a resilient ring adapted to seat in said grooves to hold the two shells together.

2. A connection plug assembly comprising a pair of axially associable plugs having rigid outer shells and axially interconnectible electrical contacts carried in said plugs, said shells comprising circumferentially complemental coaxial tongues of similar inside and outside diameters having circumferentially extending, external grooves which are in circumferential alignment when said contacts are interconnected, and a resilient ring in said grooves of one shell and adapted to expand to permit relative axial movement of the tongues of the two shells to bring said grooves into and out of circumferential alignment and to contract into said grooves, when the latter are thus aligned, to hold the two shells together.

3. A connection plug assembly according to claim 2, the said tongues of each shell being spaced apart, the spaces between tongues of one shell being non-uniform in circumferential dimension, and the tongues of the other shell being similarly non-uniform in circumferential dimension whereby to prevent interassociation of the two shells in any except a single angular relationship.

4. A connection plug assembly according to claim 2, the said electrical contacts in one plug being sleeves and the contacts in the other plug being elongate cylindrical pins adapted to extend axially into said sleeves with a snug fit, and the assembly, further, including a flat transverse disc of soft, gum-like, dielectric material overlying and in axial-support-deriving association with the outer ends of said sleeves and adapted to be penetrated by said pins and to embrace the latter intimately and wipe them, over substantial parts of their lengths, when the contacts of the two plugs are interconnected.

5. A connection plug assembly according to claim 4, the plug with the sleeve contacts therein having said disc associated therewith as a subassembly which is removable as a unit from its related shell, and the said sub-assembly comprising unifying means having radially inwardly extending flanges overlying opposite marginal face portions of said plug and disc to hold the two latter together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,150,112 Hadaway Aug. 17 ,1915 1,933,592 Hubbell Nov. '7, 1933 2,384,327 Mendelsohn Sept. 4, 1945 2,418,457 Born April 8, 1947 2,563,762 Uline Aug. '7, 1951 2,619,515 Doane Nov. 25, 1952 2,620,029 Turechek et al. Dec. 2, 1952 

